In the art of printed circuit boards and the like, it has become state of the art to have automatic machine insertion and assembly of components with the printed circuit boards by means of computer controlled equipment. A plurality of differing parts are stocked and installed at a single station. The greater the nunber of components that can be installed at a single station increases productivity by eliminating the necessity of providing additional stations and assembly equipment for each station.
Previously, circuit boards that were produced as being parts of an initially large board had to be broken apart before the components were attached to it to prevent damage to the components. This increased the amount of handling necessary to complete such assemblies since each individual board required separate handling during the assembly process.